RICHMOND, Va. -- In neighborhoods across the country, battle lines have been drawn. Home owners vs. power companies. Their encounters are symbolic nationwide of a growing debate between improved technology and an individual’s right to privacy.
"Our constitution allows us not to have that kind of intrusion on our personal privacy," Texas homeowner Thelma Taormina said.
Around the U.S., power companies are updating to 21st century smart grids. The grid is all around us, in our lamps, in our TVs, in our microwaves. Power companies said the grid is quite old and in desperate need of upgrades. Adding smart grids, they said, allows them to fix outages faster, meeting a growing demand for electricity and allow customers the ability to monitor their energy usage to reduce their bills.
But some privacy experts fear making the smart grid too smart will put your personal data at risk.
How is that possible and how are power companies responding to the issue? Read more here.
